Alternative Famous Firsts
Forrest Griffen
Producer/Host Xposure
KROX (101X)/Austin
WOXY (97X)/Oxford, OH
I was raised in the jungle by musicians, so I went to a lot of concerts, festivals, shows, jingles, etc throughout my childhood. To me, it was like if your parent was a dentist or something and they took you to work with them (with apologies to any DDS out there). I was jaded and lacked any appreciation of it whatsoever until I was like 20. My first concert as an "unaccompanied minor" where mommy and/or daddy weren't playing was Grateful Dead at Madison Square Garden 9/20/1988. I'd been to MSG probably close to twenty times at that point to cheer on the New York Rangers. To see it transformed into a Dead show was one of the most incredible things I'd seen up to that moment in my life (and remains an experience I'll never forget).
First LP was Business As Usual by Men At Work. First cassette was Thriller by Michael Jackson. First CD was Brotherhood by New Order.
Derek Trucks. Derek wasn't even 30 years old yet but already had a legendary career of course. That wealth of history and experience combined with his humble, good-natured genuineness made it probably the easiest and one of the most enjoyable on-air conversations of my career. It took a few interviews after that one for it to sink in that not every interview was going to be a Derek Trucks interview.
I remember in order to fill space I once told listeners I was born at Woodstock so I could avoid dead air. I made up details and even asked them to Google it. I got calls for two or three months after that from listeners describing how they searched in earnest but could find nothing corroborating my Woodstock origin story. I honestly don't remember my first or my last dead air experience, but I've had enough of them that I still have unpleasant dreams about it every now and then.
Brady Marks
Program Director/ Morning Show Host
WNWV (107.3 ALT CLE)/Cleveland
Street Team Member when 107.3 was JenY and our sister stations 97.5 WONE, 94.9 WQMX and 1590 WAKR! My first day, the jock on staff Kathy Vogel told me she thought I was funny and should be on-air. She was one of the people who ignited the passion in me and I’m forever grateful!
Hannah Montana - yeah not Miley Cyrus, she headlined as Hannah Montana
Liz Phair - White Chocolate Space Egg
Doesn't really count as an artist, but my first ever interview was comedian JB Smoove. Curb Your Enthusiasm was/is a staple in my house so I was VERY nervous. It played once on the air and I can't bring myself to listen back to it.
I was on a weekend shift - alone in the building except for the engineer who was doing maintenance and he came in freaking out saying we were off the air and I just needed to start talking. So I just opened the mic and started telling stories - that was not protocol, we had a harddrive of songs I could have played. I think he might have been pranking me?
Michael Dukes
PCBRJ - President/Chief Broadcaster/Receptionist/Janitor
KWVV (K-Wave 104.9 Alaska's Alternative)/Homer, AK
1987 KJJZ/KVOK Kodiak, Alaska. Was working as a commercial fisherman in Kodiak and heard that the local stations were looking to hire someone part-time on a temporary basis. Since I was in between seasons I applied and got the job as Board op for American Top 40 as well as an evening and weekend shift. I was just supposed to be filling in for a guy that was on vacation, so it was kind of awkward when he came back and they fired him and gave me his position full-time.
Club Nouveau (of "Lean on Me" fame a la 1986). It was weird as it was held in a ballroom at the local convention center in Anchorage. It was a super small space, usually used for chamber of commerce lunches and there were only about 300 people there. But to see artists I knew, live right in front of me? It was pretty awesome.
Def Leppard - Pyromania (1983), followed immediately by Men at Work - Cargo(1983) (I've had pretty eclectic music tastes even then). I bought them both on cassette and used to lay in bed at night and listen to them when I was supposed to be sleeping on my new Walkman! Remember those?
Mac Powell from Third Day (Christian Rock Band). They were doing a concert in town that the station was promoting. I don't remember what we discussed, but I do recall that I really enjoyed his down to earth attitude and passion for the music.
July 1987 - See my "1st Industry Job". I kinda faked (read: lied...don't do this at home kids) my way into that job and at one point on my first day I failed to switch out the turntables for the second hour record of AT40. This unfortunately was also my 1st (and only) on-air curse word, since I'd accidently left the mic open as well. The funniest part was that I thought, in my 17 year old innocence, that nobody had noticed. It was about 3 months later the program director mentioned it to me in passing with a wink. Told me he'd "forgotten" to mention that to the GM for my performance review.
